When was whitney houston funeral

Kelly and Alicia Keys. Whitney's godmother, Aretha Franklin, was ill and canceled at the last minute.

Stevie Wonder, who rewrote "Ribbon in the Sky" to tell Whitney's story changing the chorus to "An angel of God's choir of love" started his performance by saying: "In my little fantasy world, I had a little crush on Whitney, OK? Alicia Keys, who sang her song "Send Me an Angel," started by talking about how Whitney would call her out of the blue and how meaningful it was. She also discussed the various nicknames they had for each other, saying the late singer called her "Keys on the keys.

Kevin Costner, who attended with his wife Christine Baumgartner, said they were received with open arms at the Newark church and talked about his background in the Baptist church, something he and Houston shared. In his poignant speech, Costner remembered her "Bodyguard" screen test. They waited a year to film while Whitney was on tour. He called her "arguably the greatest pop star in the world," but also one who "didn't think she was good enough," he said, remembering her self-doubt.

But you Whitney, I truly believe, were the only one who could have played Rachel Marron at that time. People didn't just like you, Whitney, they loved you. Although Dionne Warwick — Houston's cousin and the ceremony's frequent emcee — started to introduce her, Aretha Franklin, Houston's godmother, did not make the funeral due to illness.

While Franklin may have been missed, another high-powered voice of pop, Alicia Keys, spoke to Whitney's role as a guardian to a younger generation of singers, including herself. Houston died Saturday at the Beverly Hilton hotel, at the age of An autopsy was completed — but the results are on security hold pending a toxicology report. Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day. February 18, am. Her music helped me through my bad times. Another said: "I have struggled with addiction, just like she did, and she gave me strength.

Houston was one of the world's leading musical artists from the mids to the late s, selling million records worldwide. This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.